This wide-ranging and accessible book examines the effects of British imperial involvements on history writing in Britain since 1750. It provides a chronological account of the development of history writing in its social, political, and cultural contexts, and an analysis of the structural links between those involvements and the dominant concerns of that writing. The author looks at the impact of imperial and global expansion on the treatment of government, of social structures and changes and of national and ethnic identity in scholarly and popular works, in school histories, and in ‘famous’ history books. In a clear and student-friendly way, the book argues that involvement in empire played a transformative and central role within history writing as whole, reframing its basic assumptions and language, and sustaining a significant ‘imperial’ influence across generations of writers and diverse types of historical text.
Cuprins
1. Empire and history writing: setting the scene
2. Empire and history writing c.1750–1830
3. Empire and history writing 1830s–1890s
4. Empire and history writing 1890s–1950
5. Empire and history writing since 1950
Conclusion: conversations about empire and history writing
Bibliography
Index
Despre autor
Joanna de Groot is a Senior Lecturer in History at the University of York